History and opportunity await as Mooney tracks the greats

Beth Mooney will have the opportunity to tick off a rare gap in her increasingly impressive cricketing resume when she dons the Baggy Green for this week's day-night Test at the MCG.

Mooney's journey into the stratosphere of all-time greats continued on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval, when her unbeaten 94 saw her draw level with the legendary Karen Rolton on Australia's list of top run scorers across all formats.

Mooney joined Rolton on 6,221 international runs, and now only Meg Lanning (8,352), Ellyse Perry (7,224) and Alyssa Healy (6,707) are in front of her.

"There were plenty of times throughout my career, early doors, that I didn't think I'd score one run," Mooney told reporters after Australia's thumping 72-run win.

"So that's pretty cool. I certainly don't play the game for those individual accolades, but I'm under no illusion to the fact that I've had a significant amount of help along the way, not only with the coaches that have thrown me a million balls, but people back home who've supported me through thick and thin, unconditionally.

"I'm just really proud to have been able to repay the favour and score some runs and contribute to some wins.

"Hopefully at the ripe old age of 31 I've still got a few more left in me."

The left-hander started this all-formats Ashes with knocks of 28 and 12 in the first two ODIs but has since hit 50, 75, 44 and 94no to have 303 runs for the series.

The next highest scorer is England captain Heather Knight with 172 runs. If Mooney can add another 102 runs to that tally in the MCG Test, she will set a new benchmark for most runs in a multi-format Ashes campaign, eclipsing Nat Sciver-Brunt's 404 from the 2023 edition.

"I was battling for some runs early in this series," she said. "I went back to the drawing board and worked out how I wanted to play with the coaches ... fortunately it has come off tonight and hopefully there's a few more runs left in me."

There is one milestone missing from Mooney's illustrious career record, however: a Test hundred.

Mooney averages 37.75 in the longest format, with her high score of 85 coming at the most recent Ashes Test at Trent Bridge in 2023.

She has passed fifty on four occasions from 12 innings, but admitted on Saturday she would love to go further.

"A century in the Test match would be amazing but we can't look too far ahead," she said. "I'm just really looking forward to the spectacle of the game to be honest.

"We're pumped that we're 12-0 up ... it certainly would have been nice if we played the Test match while the series was still on the line, maybe earlier in the series, but that wasn't to be.

"There's a lot of people I know that are very close to me that are flying down to watch and be part of hopefully something really special with this Australian team.

"On an individual front and as a group, it's come at a great time for us to basically just show off our skills and really enjoy playing the four-day game."

Commbank Women's Ashes 2025

Australia lead the multi-format series 12-0

First ODI: Australia won by four wickets

Second ODI: Australia won by 21 runs

Third ODI: Australia won by 86 runs

First T20I: Australia won by 57 runs

Second T20I: Australia won by six runs (DLS Method)

Third T20I: Australia won by 72 runs

Australia squad (ODI/T20Is): Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris+, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

England squad (ODI/T20Is): Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross*, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson+, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath+, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp+, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith+, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

* ODIs only; + T20Is only

Day-night Test: January 30 - February 2: MCG, Melbourne, 2.30pm AEDT

Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

England Test squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

The rivalry resumes with a blockbuster series in Australia until Feb 2. Learn about the remarkable 90-year history at the Women's Ashes Hub